


Stay the Course

by dogmatix



Series: Tabula Rasa [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Discussions of War, M/M, sex-work treated as a normal job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-18 02:43:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7296298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmatix/pseuds/dogmatix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Heads up for Ahsoka not being altogether okay with sex-work as a profession. This is not indicative of any particular flaw on her part other than too much Weird Jedi stuff, because their prohibition on attachment tended to bleed over into frowning on lots of sex, in this 'verse. Attitudes on Zarahng are the exception, unfortunately.</p></blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Over the next six months, several Rebels passed through Cody and Ben’s little apartment-house. Some only stayed a few minutes, to use the secure connection Kanan had set up when he’d come to visit them again.  Some stayed a week, laying low while mercenaries or security forces prowled the surrounding area looking for them. Most of the Rebels were civilians, but Cody was sure at least two of them were Jedi.  There had even been a duo of clones. Not anyone Cody recognized, which he was okay with; seeing someone from the 212th would have been awkward, at best.

True, Cody knew he and his brothers had had no way to predict the chips, or Order 66.  That Palpatine had specifically designed the chips to override their free will.  That Cody and his brothers bore no responsibility for what they’d done to the Jedi.

It rarely helped.  Cody could remember every moment of that horrible event, the way he’d ordered the shot that took down Obi-Wan without the least thought other than _good soldiers follow orders._ It still gave him nightmares. Shame clenched tight around his heart and sat like lead in his stomach, if he thought about it too long.  Cody had managed to forgive himself for some of it, but he supposed he was like Ben in a certain regard – he’d learned what not to think about, too.

Cody missed the unity he’d had with any and all of his brothers, but now they served as a reminder of Order 66.  He was glad that at least some of them had survived and gotten free of the Galactic Empire, but he wasn’t sad to see the Rebel clones move on.

There were two things in particular that stuck out to Cody about the Rebels. One, that none of them – _none_ of them, not even the Jedi – recognized Obi-Wan.  Two, that Cody seemed to be aging slower than his brothers.  Neither of these were conclusive, but both were…odd.  Taken together, Cody had to wonder.

Sure, Ben looked different – the long hair and clean-shaven face changed his appearance a great deal, as well as making him look younger.  It was still strange that none of the Rebels, even the Jedi, looked twice at him.  As for Cody, well, life on Zarahng might simply agree with him, or maybe he’d drawn a good number in the genetic lottery.

Cody couldn’t shake the sneaking suspicion that there was more going on, though.  Yes, Ben’s memory had been damaged by whatever Palpatine’s damn machine had been, and the ex-Jedi no longer had conscious control of his abilities, but Cody had seen Ben’s ‘good instincts’ in action more than once.  Ben was still strong in the Force.  Was Obi-Wan’s desire to stop, to walk away from war and maybe even the Jedi, still deep in Ben somewhere?  Was Ben subconsciously turning the Rebels’ curiosity away from himself?  And what about Cody? There were all kinds of legends and tall tales about Jedi and Sith, which made it difficult to winnow truth from fiction, but some Sith were supposed to have lived for thousands of years, and some Jedi were very good at healing. _Was_ there some way to extend someone’s life with the Force, and was Ben doing that to Cody by simply being around him?  The Jedi Order would probably have had a fit at the idea of such ‘unnatural’ use of the Force, but Ben no longer knew that it was taboo, if he’d even care in the first place.

Since nobody seemed harmed by anything that Ben might or might not be doing, Cody decided to let it be.  Overall, things were settling into a routine, if one involving slightly more risk than Cody was happy about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up for Ahsoka not being altogether okay with sex-work as a profession. This is not indicative of any particular flaw on her part other than too much Weird Jedi stuff, because their prohibition on attachment tended to bleed over into frowning on lots of sex, in this 'verse. Attitudes on Zarahng are the exception, unfortunately.

Zarahng was a tourist destination for its resorts, its natural beauty, and its free and open practice of sex for money.  While some might find the latter distasteful, the planet’s location close to the Dennogra Empire, as well as its laissez-faire attitude towards visitors, meant it was an ideal spot for the Rebels to set up shop.  The Rebel safehouse, operated by two civilians sympathetic to the Rebel cause, was located on the outskirts of a large town. It was a modest one-story house with the typical painted geometric designs found everywhere on Zarahng, and it sat snugged between its neighbours, just another ordinary civilian residence.

Ahsoka tapped the door-chime, going over everything she’d read and heard about the safehouse and those who ran it. Jarrus had seemed pretty adamant that the clone was Commander Cody, and Mark and Tunnel had backed that up.  If it was true…  Ahsoka was glad to know that Cody had survived. She wasn’t sure what to think about the reports claiming that Cody was playing house with a prostitute.  Call it cultural differences, but she just couldn’t imagine _Cody_ , of all people, going the quiet domestic route with someone who had sex for a living.

The door slid open.  Ahsoka didn’t need more than one look to verify that yes, this was indeed Cody. The shock  on his face showed that he recognized her, too, even after seven years and half-hidden under a cloak.  She could see her name start to form on his lips, but he was too professional for that kind of slip, and instead his face fell into stoic blankness as he stepped back from the doorway. “You’d better come inside.”

The door whispered shut behind her, and the two of them looked at each other, silent and awkward.

“Cody.” “Tano.” They spoke at the same time, then stumbled to a halt.

Cody shook his head. “Come into the kitchen. Would you like something to drink?”

“Water’s fine,” Ahsoka said, following the Clone Commander.

Having made it all the way to Zarahng, Ahsoka was suddenly struck by how little planning she’d put into this encounter. Nerves, probably.  It had been pure luck that she’d arrived when Cody was home, and she had so many things to say but didn’t know where to start.

Officially, she was here to check that the Zarahng safehouse was trustworthy, since it wasn’t run by people who were officially in the Rebellion.

Unofficially, she wanted to see if it really was Cody, and if he really had settled down and gone civilian, unbelievable as that sounded.

“So. What do I call you?” Cody asked as he offered her a glass of water.

“’Fulcrum’ is the name I go by now,” Ahsoka said, leaning back against a countertop.

“Fulcrum,” Cody said with a nod. “So, what brings you to Zarahng?”

Looked like small talk still wasn’t Cody’s strong suit. “I think that part’s obvious, don’t you?” Ahsoka said.

“You came all this way just to talk to us?”

“You, specifically,” Ahsoka clarified, setting down the glass.  “Look, Cody, I came to ask you to join us. Join the Rebellion. We can really use someone like you, someone who’s professional military.”

“I’m not military anymore.”

“You were, though. You could be again.”

“Let me be clear; I don’t _want_ to be. I have moved on, and I am _not_ going back.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Cody, we _need_ you.”

“Not my problem,” Cody said, stone-faced.

This was what Attachment did to you, Ahsoka thought, and why it was prohibited by the Code. She bit back a frustrated growl. “I never thought I’d see you turn your back on your duty,” she said, angry and disappointed.

“Duty?” Cody repeated the word, low and dangerous. “You want to talk to me about _duty_?  You, a _deserter_?”

“What?” Ahsoka asked, thrown.

“After the Temple bombing, you up and vanished!”

“I was _expelled_ from the Order!”

“They offered you your place back – don’t think the Generals didn’t talk about it at length. You _left_ , Fulcrum. You _left_ us when we needed you.”

"It’s not like that!"

"It’s _exactly_ like that."

"I wasn't _needed_ , I was just a padawan."

“You were one of the best damn Commanders in the army! But you _left_ because it 'wasn't the right place for you'.” Cody sneered. “I had to watch my General die a little every damn day. I lost brothers in every battle.  So don't you dare, don't you _dare_ come whining to me about ‘duty.’”

“The military tribunal would have sentenced me to death!”  Ahsoka tried again, frustrated and maybe a bit guilty. “Was I supposed to stay?”

“ _We did_!” Cody yelled. “You think you’re the only one the higher ups ever pulled shit on? You think you’re the only one who’s been betrayed by someone you trusted to watch your back? Offee tried to kill you, boo hoo. Slick got _hundreds_ of brothers killed, including trying to kill me and Rex. The Council expelled you? You almost got sentenced to death? Where were you when Dogma got sent back to Kamino? Where was _any Jedi_ when my brother died for saving our lives? Not one of you spoke in his defense!”

“I- who?” Ahsoka asked, feeling sick and bewildered.

Cody stared at her, obviously biting back a tirade. Finally he unclenched his hands and took a deep breath.  “Umbara, Fulcrum. Look it up sometime,” he said bitterly. “Now, unless you have anything else to say, I think it’s time you left.”

“Hello?” someone called from the front of the house. “Cody, are you here?”

“Back here, Ben!” Cody called back. “In the kitchen.”

“Everything okay?” the red-haired man – Ben – asked as he came in. “I heard shouting…”

This must be Cody’s husband, Ahsoka realized.  He didn’t particularly look like a prostitute, but Ahsoka supposed he wasn’t in his work clothes.

“Everything is fine,” Cody said. “Ben, this is Fulcrum. She’s with the Rebels.”

“Oh!” Ben’s face lit up, and he smiled at Ahsoka. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fulcrum” he said, extending his hand.

Handshakes didn’t come naturally to Ahsoka, but she forced herself to smile and shake the man’s hand. “And you, Ben.”

“Unfortunately, Fulcrum was just leaving,” Cody said, placing himself firmly at Ben’s side and staring Ahsoka down.

Ben wasn’t slow on the uptake. His enthusiasm banked itself, and his smile dimmed down to merely a polite façade. “I see.”

Something about that smile niggled at Ahsoka’s memory. Had she seen Cody’s husband somewhere before? It was patently ridiculous, she’d never been to Zarahng, but she had the strangest sense of déjà vu.  Something about Ben’s presence in the Force, too, when she’d shaken his hand…

Ben inclined his head in a small, precise nod, and Ahsoka’s world stopped.

Cody must have seen something in her expression, because he gave ‘Ben’s’ hand a quick squeeze and said. “I’ll see her out.”

Cody’s deceptively causal-looking vice grip on her arm forced her to move or be dragged.  “Keep your mouth _shut_ ,” he said quietly enough that ‘Ben’ wouldn’t hear.  Ahsoka’s mind whirled.  It couldn’t be Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan was _dead_.  Was Cody even Cody? She would have never in a million years expected the kind of belligerent disrespect from Obi-Wan’s Commander that she was seeing from this clone. But his signature in the Force was too familiar to mistake, even if she discounted the scar that marked his face.

No, it was them. But if Cody had recognized her, why hadn’t Obi-Wan? And Obi-Wan was willing to follow Cody’s lead, what did that mean? Cody did seem to be the one set on staying here. “That’s Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka hissed as the door slid shut behind them.

“ _Ben_ ,” Cody corrected her with a fierce look.

 “How the hell did you-  Master Obi-Wan would never- I don’t understand, what _happened_?“

Cody grimaced. “The condensed version is that Ben lost his memory. It’s not a good idea to-“

“And you didn’t try to help him get it back?”

“If you’d listen for a minute, it’s not that simple. Getting his memory back might not be possible, and-“

“So you turned him into a _whore_?”

Ahsoka knew she’d overstepped the second the words were out of her mouth.  The fury burning in Cody was held in check by the thinnest of restraints.

“Leave,” Cody growled.

“Wait, please, I’m sorry, please, Cody, do you know what happened to Anakin?”

“Skywalker is dead.”

“But-“

“I saw his corpse myself.”

“Do you know who killed him?” Ahsoka asked, desperate for any answers.  Anakin had simply vanished, and Ahsoka had long supposed that he’d been killed defending the Temple.  She’d always held out the hope that he’d survived, somehow, but if Cody knew who’d killed him, maybe Ahsoka could…well, not kill them in turn, that wasn’t the Jedi way, but at least she’d _know_.

“At the end of the war, there weren’t any good choices. Sometimes there wasn’t any choice at all. Leave it alone, Fulcrum. You won’t be happy for the information.”

“I was his padawan, I deserve to know.” She was half-ready for Cody to say that he himself had killed Anakin. The haunted eyes of the clones in the Rebellion when they’d told her about Order 66 was enough to make her brace for that possibility.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi killed Anakin Skywalker. The Imperial propaganda about the 501st marching on the Jedi Temple is true. By the time I caught up to Obi-Wan, he’d killed Skywalker. I found him cradling the corpse.”

Ahsoka’s mouth was open, but there were no words.

“Ben has done enough. He has bled enough, he has died enough. And I will shoot you before I let you drag us back into that hell.

“Now leave the gods-damned past alone, Fulcrum. Nothing good comes of stirring it up.”  Cody looked so indescribably weary. He turned and went back into the house, leaving Ahsoka standing in a world that was so much colder than she’d ever thought it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy hells I wasn't going to do another chapter but now I need an epilogue to cheer me up. Look forward to a less horribad bit in the next few days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 99% unbeta'd, all mistakes mine.
> 
> Also, I submitted a world-prompt to [jediprompts](http://jediprompts.tumblr.com/) for Zarahng, and [this is the awesomeness that resulted](http://jediprompts.tumblr.com/post/146945440315/star-wars-planet-aesthetic-zarahng-dogmatix). :D

Ben called out his goodbye to Onor and the others as he left the bordello.  Normally he’d call Cody if public transport wasn’t convenient for whatever reason, but the weather was beautiful after the storms last week, and Ben felt like walking. Turning to face the street, he spotted a familiar face, and his smile dimmed a few notches.  At least she didn’t pretend he hadn’t seen her.  The Togruta jogged across the street and stood facing him, shifting nervously.

“Fulcrum,” Ben broke the silence. “To what do I owe this visit?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” Fulcrum admitted, shifting from one foot to the other.

“About?” Ben asked, not moving from the bordello’s steps. He was almost a head shorter than the Togruta, and he was both taking advantage of the steps to even that out, and staying close to the safety of his place of employment. Bigshots in the Rebellion – and Cody had been fairly sure that Fulcrum was a bigshot – didn’t show up just to chat to random civilians about nothing for no reason.

“About Cody.”

“You want to talk to me about my husband without him knowing. Why?”

“Not anything to do with-with my line of work. I’m just…I knew him, before- Uh, before you two moved here.  We didn’t…part on the best of terms, you might say.”

“You didn’t part on the best of terms last month, either,” Ben said dryly.

“Yyeeah. I…may have said some things.”

“I know, he told me,” Ben said, even dryer.

“He told you? Uh, even about, um.”

“Yes, even about the name-calling. If you’re going to set up a base on Zarahng, you really are going to have to get over your weird hangups.”

Fulcrum blushed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you…what I did. I don’t mean you any harm, and I won’t ask you not to tell Cody about this later.”

“Well, since you’re being so sensible,” Ben descended the last two steps and started walking along the sidewalk. “I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Walk with me?”

“Uh, sure! Thanks.”

“Now that that’s out of the way, what kind of questions did you want to ask?”

“Does he… does he treat you well?”

Ben laughed. “’Treat me well?’ I’m not a pet, Fulcrum,” he said, hilarity mixing with exasperation. “I have no idea why you offworlders have this hangup about sex work, but my husband and I are in a mutual relationship. I love him, and he loves me. We take care of each other.”

“Soooo, he doesn’t….make you feel unsafe, or force you to do things you don’t want to do?”

Ben gave her an admonishing look. “No, my husband does not abuse me in any fashion.” 

The Togruta woman blushed.

“It sounds like you don’t trust him as far as you could throw a bearzok.” Ben said neutrally.

“What’s a bearzok?”

“Large.” He shot her a look. “Which begs the question, if you trust Cody so very little, why does our guest room still have Rebels crashing in it on a regular basis? And if they’re going to raid our fridge, the least you can do is give us some kind of stipend to defray the damages.”

“Er?”

“Three of you staying for an eight-day does tend to deplete our larder.”

“I’ll look into it,” Fulcrum said, sounding a bit bewildered by the rapid change of subject.

“Thank you. And you still haven’t answered my question.”

Fulcrum thought as they walked, the hubbub of the town starting to die down towards the outskirts. “Even if we didn’t part on the best of terms, I still would have expected him to stay in the fight. The fact that he ran and holed up here is a bit…I don’t know what to think.”

Ben nodded contemplatively. “I don’t have the answers, and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you, because my husband deserves his privacy. But what I do know is that Cody absolutely does not want to get involved,” Ben stopped and turned to face her. Voice deceptively calm, he gave her an unwavering stare, “and if you force him to, I will find you and I will make you regret ever having been born. Are we clear?”

* * *

 

"She didn’t seem especially threatened,” Ben grumped a few hours later, curling closer to his husband. “She just got this odd look on her face and said, ‘Understood.’”

Cody hummed and continued to dig his fingers lightly into Ben’s scalp, massaging it. “Oh, I don’t know. I think she got the message.”

“Don’t tease.” Ben poked a finger into Cody’s stomach, where he was ticklish.

“I’m not,” Cody twitched away from the finger, laughing.  He caught Ben’s hand with his and twined their fingers together. “She’s right about her and me knowing each other, before.” Cody admitted. “I might not be able to read her as well as I used to, but I doubt she’s changed that much. She knows you’re serious, trust me.”

Ben hummed, but let himself be placated. Lying with his head on Cody’s shoulder, with those nimble fingers on his scalp, it was hard to stay annoyed, anyway.  “At least she’s trying.” Ben snorted.  “Offworlders and their hangups,” he grumped under his breath.

Ben was good at his job, and proud of it.  In the months after their arrival on Zarahng, even after Ben had fully recovered, he hadn’t been able to get a job as more than a part-time waiter.  Cody had gotten a job at the docks, which covered most of the necessities of food and bills, but Ben had had no marketable skills. Together they’d made ends meet, but it had been tight.

The job at the bordello had been a chance opening, created by luck and Madam An-aranay’s ‘good feeling’ about Ben. It had been the break they needed – now they had enough extra that they could afford to put away a small nest-egg, as well as going on a vacation once a year or so.  And since prostitution was considered an ‘at risk’ profession, like those in the biological research and medical fields, Ben and Cody both had access to health care with virtually no out of pocket expenses – much better than the basic health care that came with Cody’s job. Neither of them had needed to access it very much, but it was a good safety net to have.

Ben couldn’t quite articulate why Fulcrum’s disgusted reaction touched him more deeply than the typical offworlder’s, but it did.  Maybe because she was in some position of power in the Rebellion, and the Rebellion – or at least the idea of it – had always appealed to Ben.

“Hey,” Cody said.

“Hmm?”

“Let me take care of you tonight?”

Ben didn’t have to think very hard about that one. “All right.”

Cody sat up, and Ben lay back, stretched out on the bed.  Cody and Ben were intimate in many ways, but Cody wasn’t driven by sex the way some people were.  To put it another way, Ben enjoyed having sex. Cody enjoyed having sex with Ben. Both of them enjoyed the simple tactile pleasure of skin on skin, often spending nights and evenings simply cuddling, basking in each other’s presence.

Cody also sometimes enjoyed doing all the heavy lifting, as it were.  Yes, Ben enjoyed sex, but it was still his day job, and Cody took personal pleasure in giving Ben a chance to simply lie back and enjoy himself.

Tonight was one of those nights.  Cody went slowly, kissing and caressing Ben all over.  He paid special attention to his husband’s neck and hands teasing and bantering when his mouth and tongue weren’t busy elsewhere, until Ben was breathless and begging. Cody moved on, but held out until Ben started swearing revenge before he lavished his attention on his husband’s hard, heavy cock, stroking with gentle fingers behind Ben’s balls and down his perineum.   

Watching Ben come apart with pleasure was one of the great joys of Cody’s life, and tonight was no different. The way Ben’s neck arched, the way he gripped the sheets, the breathy cry of pleasure… it did things to Cody, and several quick pulls on his own cock had him groaning into Ben’s hip as he came, too.

Cleanup was quick and efficient, and Ben’s gaze on him, still heavy-lidded from the afterglow, made Cody quick to finish, so that he could curl up next to Ben.  The two of them snuggled up together, warm and happy. Tomorrow could take care of itself. Tonight, they had everything they could want right there in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap. I have no plans to continue this at the moment, though if anyone wants to play with this particular AU, they are welcome (just drop me a link so that I can also read it),


End file.
